The present invention relates to a telescoping pole and, more particularly, to a telescoping pole for use in the intravenous administration of fluids.
Telescoping intravenous poles, or IV poles, are commonly used in hospitals for holding a container of IV fluid suspended above a patient. Such poles usually include an inner tube or rod which is longitudinally movable relative to an outer tube and which may be extended to the required height and then locked in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,222 to Frinzel and issued Sept. 12, 1978 discloses a typical IV pole in which a locking or clutch mechanism is carried at the lower end of a movable inner tube for engaging the interior surface of the outer tube to hold the pole at a desired height. Trigger bars located at the top of the pole may be manually engaged to disengage the clutch for movement of the inner tube when it is desired to change the height of the pole. Operation of this arrangement suffers from the problem that the hospital personnel manipulating the pole must often reach up above head level in order to manipulate the trigger levers for adjusting the pole. Further, the clutch of Frinzel is typical of current IV pole locking mechanisms in that it relies solely on a spring force to maintain the locking elements in engagement to prevent relative movement between the two tubes.
In addition, although the locking mechanism is only required for preventing downward movement of the pole, typical prior art IV poles require that the lock be released for both upward and downward movement and thereby hinder upward adjustment of the pole.
Consequently, there is a need for an IV pole which may be conveniently adjusted by hospital personnel and which firmly locks to prevent inadvertent downward movement of the IV container supporting portion of the pole.